1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sliding apparatus and a sliding structure, including: a first extension member; and a second member that extends in the same direction as the first member and engages the first extension member, wherein the first extension member and the second extension member are movable relatively in the extension direction thereof. Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-284062, filed on Oct. 31, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, drawers for use in storage furniture, photocopiers, or the like are known in which both sides are provided with sliding apparatuses such as slide rails for smooth movement. In such sliding apparatuses, at least two relatively-movable rail members are engaged so as to face each other, and these rail members move relative to their extension direction. As such a sliding apparatus, one is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 3291272.
This slide rail includes: two extending outer members; and a single inner member arranged so as to be sandwiched between these outer members, with a length substantially the same as that of the outer member in a longitudinal direction. The two outer members are made an outer member on a fixed side and on a moving side, according to the positions at which they are attached. Furthermore, between the outer member and inner members, there is provided a retainer for holding rolling bodies (i.e., balls).
These members are assembled and engaged so as to be movable relatively in the direction in which they extend. That is, between the outer member and the inner member, a retainer is provided to move relatively the outer and inner members in the longitudinal direction. Thereby, it is configured such that the outer member on the fixed side and the inner member are smoothly moved relative to each other. It is also configured such that the inner member and the outer member on the moving side are smoothly moved relative to each other.
When with this movement, a pair of the outer member on the fixed side and the inner member or a pair of the inner member and the outer member on the moving side goes beyond the state where they are maximally extended in their relative position in the longitudinal direction, their mutual engagement described above is released. Therefore, it is required to restrict their movement range so that they do not go beyond the maximally extended state.
Also in the state where the relative position in the longitudinal direction between the pair of the outer member on the fixed side and the inner member or between the pair of the inner member and the outer member on the moving side is minimally retracted, their relative movement is restricted so that these members do not go beyond their retracted state into an extended state.
To restrict the range of these relative movements, for example the following mechanism is used.
That is, on one end portion in the longitudinal direction of an outer member, a stopper portion is provided so as to protrude toward the inner member. On the other end portion in the longitudinal direction of the inner member, a stopper portion is provided so as to protrude toward the outer member. The outer member and inner member are engaged. After that, another stopper portion is protruded from the other end portion in the longitudinal direction of the outer member to this inner member, so as to be arranged on the side further to the outside in the longitudinal direction than the stopper portion of the inner member.
In this case, one stopper portion of the inner member is arranged so as to be positioned between the two stopper portions provided on both end portions of the outer member. As a result, the range of the relative movement between the outer member and the inner member is restricted on both sides in the longitudinal direction by the stopper member of the inner member abutting either one of the stopper portions of the outer member.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent No. 3933684 discloses a technique related to a sliding apparatus with a holding function that is capable of automatically retracting an inner rail into an outer rail without applying strong pushing pressure when the inner rail is housed in the outer rail. The holding function is also capable of holding the retracted state. This prevents a half-open state of the drawer, and improves safety and convenience. Moreover, this prevents the drawer from opening in spite of the intention of the user even if rocking or vibration occurs.
Moreover, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-17486 discloses a technique related to a sliding structure in which one of the rail members constituting the sliding apparatus as described above is formed integrally with a drawer as a movable body, and the other is disposed on a casing as a base body, the movable body and the base body being formed so as to move relatively.
According to this, it is possible to reduce the number of parts, improving workability in assembly.
However, in the sliding apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3291272, it is required to further form a new stopper portion in a state with a pair of rail members made of the outer member and the inner member being engaged. This is likely to make the work in the manufacture complicated. That is, to form this new stopper portion, for example, a stopper member as another part, a screw for fixing the stopper member, or the like is used which increases the number of parts, or a stamping step or a bender (bending) step is added for integrally protruding this stopper portion and the rail member. Thereby, workability of manufacture is prevented.
Furthermore, the pair of rail members each have a stopper portion that is previously provided so as to protrude toward each other. Therefore, in the assembly of these rail members, a longitudinal direction for their mutual engagement is defined only in one direction. As a result, in manufacturing, a check step for checking the direction in which these rail members are engaged is required. This prevents workability in assembly.
Furthermore, for assembling such sliding apparatuses, additional steps and technical knowledge, as described above, are required. Therefore, for example, it is not possible to address a variety of requirements and applications including the case where after these rail members are delivered to a user on a single part basis, the user assembles them.
Furthermore, to disassemble a once-assembled sliding apparatus, it is required to remove the newly added stopper portions or bend them flat. This is inconvenient in maintenance or the like. In addition, in this disassembly work, a stopper portion may be lost or damaged, thereby resulting in insufficient reproducibility of assembly.
The present invention has been achieved in view of such circumstances, and has an object to provide a sliding apparatus and a sliding structure that both have a small number of parts, require no additional steps, significantly improve workability and productivity, and are capable of being disassembled in a simple manner and in a short time even after assembly.